Apparatus for producing bag packages filled with a product

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for producing bag packages filled with a product has a tubular-bag-making machine, in which the bag packages are produced. After that, the bag packages reach a weighing device and from there they reach a conveyor system, which delivers the bag packages to downstream evacuating and closing systems. Because the weighing device is disposed between the tubular-bag-making machine and the conveyor system, it is possible to ascertain the current weight of a bag package that has just been filled, and if the weight deviates from a rated filling weight, it is possible to trigger the metering device of the tubular-bag-making machine in such a way that the next bag package filled contains the rated filling quantity again.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to an apparatus for producing tubular bag packages filled with a product.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Apparatuses are already known which have a tubular-bag-making machine and the tubular-bag-making machine produces bags that are filled with a product inside the tubular-bag-making machine. The thus-filled bag packages, which are not yet sealed in their top region, are spun off from the tubular-bag-making machine into a packaged goods chain. The packaged goods chain, driven in clocked fashion, then conveys the bag packages into the region of a weighing device, where the bag packages to be weighed can be weighed by being released from the packaged goods chain. If a rated weight is undershot or exceeded, the metering device in the tubular-bag-making machine is then triggered accordingly. A disadvantage of the known apparatus is that releasing the bag packages in the region of the weighing device results in a conveyor system of relatively complicated embodiment, especially if the conveyor system is also supposed to be adjustable in format to process various packing formats. It is also disadvantageous that the bag packages which are located along the conveying path between the tubular-bag-making machine and the weighing station as a rule all likewise have a corresponding underweight or overweight, so that the regulation or readjustment of the metering device in the tubular-bag-making machine that is done always dictates a relatively high number of underfilled or overfilled bags. If the rated weight is undershot, it can therefore be necessary to fill the packages with the appropriate quantity of product in an additional remetering station, so that the bag package can be sold. Otherwise, the underfilled bag package must be excluded and emptied. Especially for relatively expensive products, it is therefore worthwhile to attempt to furnish the shortest possible controlled system between the weighing device and the metering device in the tubular-bag-making machine.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The apparatus according to the invention for producing bag packages filled with a product has the advantage that it enables the shortest possible controlled system between the weighing device and the metering device in the tubular-bag-making machine; thus if the just-weighed bag package deviates from the rated weight, the next bag package already contains the correct rated weight. Moreover, it is possible to dispense with an exemption device in the conveyor system for the bag packages. Remetering units that are otherwise sometimes necessary are also superfluous. Thus the number of bag packages produced in the apparatus but provided with the wrong weight is very low. At the same time, a relatively simple layout of the apparatus is possible. According to the invention, this is achieved essentially by providing that the weighing device is disposed in the transfer region between the tubular-bag-making machine and the conveyor system for the bag packages.

Advantageous refinements of the apparatus of the invention for producing product-filled bag packages are disclosed. In one advantageous embodiment, the weighing cup for receiving the bag package below the transverse seam cutter is aligned with the tubular-bag-making machine in such a way that the bag package drops into the weighing cup by its own weight. As a result, additional transfer devices, which would possibly also adversely affect the cycling times, can be avoided. It is also especially advantageous if the weighing cup has a movable bottom, so that the bag package, after being weighed, can be transferred simply and directly (by the force of its weight) into the conveyor system, especially when the weighing cup is still aligned with the receptacle in the conveyor system. To enable easy and simple adaptation of the apparatus to various bag packages or bag package formats, the weighing cup is embodied as a format-dependent component, which is secured replaceably to a weighing block.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood and further objects and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of an apparatus according to the invention for producing product-filled bag packages; and

FIG. 2 is a section taken in the plane II-II of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, an apparatus 10 for producing bag packages 1 filled with a product, such as coffee, is shown as embodying a tubular-bag-making machine 11, known per se. The tubular-bag-making machine 11 has a forming tube 12 and a forming shoulder 13, with the aid of which a flat web 2 of packaging material is initially shaped into a tube 3. The thus-formed tube 3 is formed into a bag package 1 by means of a longitudinal seam sealing device 14 and a transverse seam sealing device 15, which also include folding elements not shown because they are known per se. Moreover, as can be seen in FIG. 2, a cutter with a cutting knife 16 is also integrated with the transverse seam sealing device 15, in order to cut the bag package 1 apart from the tube 3.

Inside the forming tube 12 of the tubular-bag-making machine 11, there is a metering device with a metering worm 18 (FIG. 2); the metering worm 18 is connected via a line 19 to a control unit 20 and is triggered by this control unit. The control unit 20 triggers the metering worm 18 in such a way that it rotates the metering worm 18 by a defined angular amount, in order to meter a desired rated filling quantity into a bag package 1.

Below the tubular-bag-making machine 11, there is a conveyor system 23 for the bag packages 1, which delivers the bag packages 1 to evacuation and closing devices. The conveyor system 23 has a stationary bottom rail 24, on which the bag packages 1 are conveyed in increments in the direction of the arrow 25. The conveyor system 23 furthermore has two endlessly revolving conveyor belts 26, 27, of which only one conveyor belt 26 is shown in FIG. 1. Partitions or drivers 28, 29, between which one bag package 1 each is received, are secured to the conveyor belts 26, 27. An adjustment of one conveyor belt 26 relative to the other conveyor belt 27 adjusts the spacing of the drivers 28, 29 from one another, so that the conveyor system 23 is suitable for format adaptation to various sizes of bag packages.

An essential feature of the invention is a weighing device 30 disposed between the tubular-bag-making machine 11 and the conveyor system 23. The weighing device 30 has a format-dependent weighing cup 31, which is replaceably connected via a support 32 to a measurement plate 33 that can be acted upon by the force of weight. The measurement plate 33 is in turn disposed in a measurement block 34.

The weighing cup 31 has a tubular receptacle 35, whose cross section is adapted to the cross section of the bag package 1. The bottom region of the weighing cup 22 is formed by two bottom flaps 36, 37, which are supported pivotably in the direction of the double arrows 38, 39. In the position shown in the drawings, the bottom flaps 36, 37 are closed, so that a bag package 1 can be taken from the weighing cup 31; the weight of the bag package 1 is detected via the measurement plate 33 and delivered as an input value to the control unit 20 via a line 41. Another essential factor is that the receptacle 35 or the weighing cup 31 is aligned with the tubular-bag-making machine 11 or the drivers 28, 29 of the conveyor system 23 in such a way that a filled bag package 1, cut from the tube 3, drops by the force of its weight into the weighing cup 31, and the weighed bag package 1, after opening of the bottom plates 36, 37, again by the force of its weight drops between the drivers 28, 29 of the conveyor system 23, which is in its stopped phase.

Because the bag package 1 that has just been initially filled is weighed by the weighing device 30 to find its weight force, or the rated filling quantity, it is possible if there is a deviation of the actual filling quantity or weight to make a suitably corrected signal available by means of the control unit 20 to the metering worm 18, already for the next bag package 1, so that the bag package 1 that follows a just-weighed bag package 1 will be filled with a corrected filling quantity.

The apparatus 10 of the invention can be modified in manifold ways. For instance, it is conceivable in particular to provide a different layout of the weighing device 30 or of the weighing cup 31. It is also possible to guide or transport the bag packages 1 between the tubular-bag-making machine 11 and the weighing device 30 and optionally between the weighing device 30 and the conveyor system 23 by means of additional devices.

The foregoing relates to a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, it being understood that other variants and embodiments thereof are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, the latter being defined by the appended claims. 

1. In an apparatus (10) for producing bag packages (1) that are filled with a product, having a bag-producing apparatus embodied as a tubular-bag-making machine (11), a weighing device (30) for weighing the filled bag packages (1), and a conveyor system (23), which has receptacles for the bag packages (1) and which receive the bag packages (1) at equal spacings from one another and delivers them to downstream processing stations, in particular evacuation and closing stations, the improvement wherein the weighing device (30) is disposed between the tubular-bag-making machine (11) and the conveyor system (23).
 2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the tubular-bag-making machine (11) comprises a transverse seam cutter (15), and wherein the weighing device (30) is disposed below the transverse seam cutter (15), the weighing device (30) includes a weighing cup (31) having a cross section for receiving a bag package (1) aligned with the bag package (1) in the tubular-bag-making machine (11).
 3. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the weighing cup (31) has a movable bottom (36, 37) that uncovers the receiving cross section, and wherein the receiving cross section is aligned with the receptacles of the conveyor system (23).
 4. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein the weighing cup (31), as a format-dependent component, is replaceably secured to a weighing block (34).
 5. The apparatus in accordance with claim 3, wherein the weighing cup (31), as a format-dependent component, is replaceably secured to a weighing block (34).
 6. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the weighing device (30) and the tubular-bag-making machine (11) are coupled by means of a control unit (20) in such a way that if underfilling or overfilling of a bag package (1) occurs, the control unit (20) delivers a correspondingly corrected new metering value, as a new rated value, to the metering device (18) of the tubular-bag-making machine (11).
 7. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2, wherein the weighing device (30) and the tubular-bag-making machine (11) are coupled by means of a control unit (20) in such a way that if underfilling or overfilling of a bag package (1) occurs, the control unit (20) delivers a correspondingly corrected new metering value, as a new rated value, to the metering device (18) of the tubular-bag-making machine (11).
 8. The apparatus in accordance with claim 3, wherein the weighing device (30) and the tubular-bag-making machine (11) are coupled by means of a control unit (20) in such a way that if underfilling or overfilling of a bag package (1) occurs, the control unit (20) delivers a correspondingly corrected new metering value, as a new rated value, to the metering device (18) of the tubular-bag-making machine (11).
 9. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein the weighing device (30) and the tubular-bag-making machine (11) are coupled by means of a control unit (20) in such a way that if underfilling or overfilling of a bag package (1), occurs, the control unit (20) delivers a correspondingly corrected new metering value, as a new rated value, to the metering device (18) of the tubular-bag-making machine (11).
 10. The apparatus in accordance with claim 5, wherein the weighing device (30) and the tubular-bag-making machine (11) are coupled by means of a control unit (20) in such a way that if underfilling or overfilling of a bag package (1) occurs, the control unit (20) delivers a correspondingly corrected new metering value, as a new rated value, to the metering device (18) of the tubular-bag-making machine (11). 